NBC newsman Tim Russert died of a heart attack more than two weeks ago, but that doesn't mean that it's too late for desperate flacks to try piggybacking on the man's death in order to snatch a little media coverage for their most marginal clients. For example, here's a question you've probably been asking yourself since that fateful day: "COULD HOLISTIC MEDICINE HAVE SAVED TIM RUSSERT?" Holistic medicine pioneer and tasteless quack Raphael Kellman, MD says "YES!":

I'm fairly sure that just a slightly better diet and more exercise could have saved Tim Russert. And I'm absolutely positive that this guy is a quack, and his PR firm (Jaime Alyn PR) is desperate and none too skilled:

(New York, NY) With Tim Russert's sudden death from a heart attack we are left wondering, who is at risk of heart attack and sudden death, how can we prevent this from happening to ourselves and loved ones and can we reverse heart disease?

Tim Russert had so much information at his fingertips, the best cardiologists and the best of what conventional medicine could offer, yet he still could not be saved. Because we are flooded with information from the pharmaceutical industry and the media about new drugs we have come to believe that only drugs can heal disease. According to Raphael Kellman, MD, Internist and Holistic Medicine Pioneer, "Scientific information about the benefits of nutraceuticals (natural compounds) and how deeply they can improve biochemistry function unfortunately gets blotted out of view. From Tim Russert's tragic death it becomes clear that merely controlling one's blood pressure and cholesterol with medications is not sufficient."

Apparently, we need to look deeper; we need to look beneath the tip of the iceberg for the deeper causes of heart disease. In fact, studies show that close to 50% of relatively younger patients who develop heart disease do not have any of the more well-known risk factors, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol. More and more studies are showing that the deeper we look for causes, the more we see that disease stems from cellular dysfunction (characterized by a decreased ability to produce energy, anti-oxidant deficiencies, toxic build up, cell membrane damage and a decreased ability of the cell and organ to do its work in the body) which is not amenable to drug interventions.

One does not have hypertension because one is deficient in blood pressure medications. One develops hypertension because the arteries are not functioning properly, which is frequently due to inflammation, insulin resistance and a relative deficiency of vitamin B12, vitamin C, and other nutrients. Similarly, one does not have high cholesterol because one is deficient in a statin drug. One has high cholesterol because of a poor diet and metabolic abnormalities which are missed by routine blood tests.

Clearly the deeper we look, the more we see that heart disease is due to cellular dysfunction, stemming from poor diet, inflammation, abnormalities in insulin function, liver dysfunction and a host of other forms of dysfunction. Dysfunction is not amenable to drug therapies, yet it is the true cause of disease. Cellular dysfunction, however, is amenable to dietary changes and a myriad of natural compounds. Studies have shown that vitamin B12, folate, vitamin C, L-arginine, resveratrol, anti-oxidant therapy and fish oil improves endothelial function. Fish oil also reduces inflammation and lowers blood pressure. More importantly because it improves the electrical conductivity of the heart it can prevent arrhythmias and sudden death from a heart attack. A major clinical study of more than 11,000 adults showed that those who consumed 1,000mg of fish oil daily had a 30% reduced rate of cardiovascular disease and a 20% lower rate of sudden death.

Additionally, new research reveals that vitamin D can prevent heart disease and reduce risks of having a heart attack. Numerous studies indicate that vitamin D deficiency contributes to high blood pressure, insulin resistance and inflammation. In a recent study reported in the archives of internal medicine in June 2008, men classified as deficient in vitamin D, where 2.5 times more likely to have a fatal heart attack than those with higher levels of the vitamin.

Along with these deeper causes and treatments for heart disease we now have blood tests that can help prevent sudden death. This include blood tests for Lipo-A, VLDL, size of cholesterol particles (frequently not done because there are no drugs to treat it), fasting insulin, glucose levels, TRH stimulation test for a deeper evaluation of the thyroid and other tests that are still not widely done although studies show they should be.

Heart disease and heart attacks cannot be sufficiently prevented just by taking medications. If people want to know what else one can do to prevent a heart attack, one need to understand health and disease from a holistic perspective.